Trip out West?

[Ding-a-ling]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SewBzzzy:
We'd love more information on exactely what to see in each location. Should we purchase an eighty dollar pass for the parks? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes. Get the pass ahead of time - then you can just show it at the gate and continue. It's good anywhere in the NPS system.

Look here at the NPS Yellowstone site for info.

Your 30' Winnie will do fine travelling out there. You'll not be doing 55 mph over the mountains but you'll do OK. Just remember - go down the other side of a mountain at the same speed at which you went up! You do this by manually downshifting at the crest. This will help save your brakes.

I don't mean to cause you any apprehension about driving out west. It's just safe driving.

We pull a Saturn VUE. Last summer we travelled out west and crossed the Continental Divide 9 times. The Winnie knows what to do!

Enjoy.

P.S.
Read this about mountain driving posted by DriVer.

[Kazoo Tom]

The National Parks pass is a good buy and will get you into any National Park. There are several parks along your route to visit.

Not sure where in Michigan you are, but we last went out on I-80, stayed in Cody while using a rental car to tour Yellowstone, and returned on I-94. We stayed on I-94 to Minneapolis and then routed ourselves through the U.P. and back across the Big Mac and back home.

Send me a pm and I'll try to locate some of the campground information where we stayed.

[Slapshottr]

SewBzzy,
I agree with your comments about the great info found on this website. We are doing a western adventure this summer. We will be headed out from the east coast to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Badlands and numerous points in between. We will have three months to complete the trip while the kids are out of school. I have done those 2 week RV trips in the past because that is all the vacation time I could get so I feel your pain. It is not always about the destination but the journey.
Smlranger
Thanks for the tip on the Cabela's in Mitchell SD. I have been getting those catalogs for years and have always wanted to visit a store. I just plugged a new overnight stop into our trip.
Kazoo Tom
What route did you take across WI to the Upper Peninsula? We will be on the last legs of our trip headed back to Jersey and plan stops at Mackinaw Mill Creek and Harrisville State Park in the Lower Peninsula. Then across Canada to Niagara Falls. We will probably be out of money, out of ideas, and running on fumes by this point of the trip.
See Ya on the road this summer

[SewBzzzy]

Wish we had three months! Sounds like FUN!! If all goes well, my husband hopes to retire in ten years at age 62, and since I'm a school employee (secretary), I'll keep working until age 66.....so we can still have the summers off together. As far as Mackinaw Mill Creek and Harrisville State Park....I would choose a couple different ones, if possible. We have camped all over Michigan for over 35 years...and know them all well. I would suggest St. Ignace State Park, overlooking the Mackinaw Bridge (lower campground, 1st choice) and maybe South Higgins State Park (most beautiful state park in Michigan!)....or farther south, Holly State Park, Seven Lakes State Park, etc. Let me know if you'd like more information on the parks in Michigan. We'd love to hear about your trip when it's completed! We're excited for our trip out West in June/July of 2009!

[jeeprubi]

We did this trip last summer, but since we fulltime, we had plenty of time. Let me add a few other places for your consideration:
-In the Black Hills, drive the Needles Highway

- Sheridan WY. Kings Saddlery & Museum in downtown Sheridan. My wife and I are not horse fans at all, but this place was amazing. The leather works for the saddle they made was outstanding.

- Hwy 14 into the Big Horn Mtns. Breathtaking view as you ascend/descend. Hwy 14 is north of Sheridan, WY

- Custers Last Stand battlefield.

- Grand Tetons. Awesome.

Thinking about it makes me want to go back this year.

[Lindsay Richards]

We are now in our third month of "out West" and are just scratching the surface. I would suggest a shorter drive and more sightseeing. Will save a bundle of money also with thefuel prices. Fuel is our bigest budget item.